Kanye West Doesn't Care About White People

On television, how often do you see the Heartland, the South, or innocence portrayed as positive, or as the innocent victim of thuggery or artistic elitism gone awry? If I told you that it happened over the weekend, would you have guessed that MTV was the network that aired it?

As it turns out, Joe Wilson isn’t the only inappropriate interrupter of the last week. If you haven’t seen Kanye West’s shocking-only-to-people-who-have-never-seen-or-heard-Kanye-West-perform-or-say-words outburst at the normally classy and restrained MTV Video Music Awards, take 90 seconds and watch the train wreck. I don’t want to say it was awkward, but I haven’t seen a performer arouse that many embarrassed faces since…well, since Kanye West did the exact same thing at the European VMAs in 2007, which at the time was the most awkward TV moment since Kanye West hijacked a Katrina charity TV show to rant that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.“

A lot of people are focusing on what a jackass he was (UPDATE: Apparently President Obama actually used the word “jackass” to describe him, which I just found out, and which gives the President a couple bonus points in my book), but that’s too easy. I’m choosing to focus on the bright side for a few moments before I **SPOILER ALERT** play the race card. The bright side inspired my opening paragraph, which was sincere. Think about what happened in this moment, because it’s not something you’ll see too often in entertainment.

Hip people don’t like country music. They don’t like the performers or the fans unless a performer alienates its fans by saying something hip, like the Dixie Chicks. Hip people don’t like innocence unless it’s portrayed in some sort of ironic way, like a vixen in a school girl uniform, or a young child with a knife behind its back. Hip people do like controversy and people who push the envelope, which is why they liked the “wardrobe malfunction” at the Super Bowl. They loved the idea that a bunch of heartland families recoiled in shock as something traditionally innocent like the Super Bowl was invaded by hipness.

MTV is for hip people.

But hipness took a hit at the VMAs, as normally hip people saw its ugly side. Wide-eyed heartland girl Taylor Swift was expressing her shock at receiving her award, acknowledging that as a country singer she wasn’t a favorite to win on MTV, when Kanye West literally grabbed the mic from her and tried to remind everyone that the hip choice wasn’t made. A few people cheered (as MTV teens are wont to do whenever a person holding a mic emits sound), but most people booed or acted shocked. After Kanye walked off the stage, the crowd started to cheer Taylor even more. Kanye, an MTV icon, was kicked out. Later, Beyonce won a big award and invited Taylor back onstage to finish her speech. Classy move. And the response to the moment has been overwhelmingly negative towards Kanye and positive towards Taylor. This can only help her albums and hurt his, which is cool.

I consider it a nice moment. Period. Good triumphed over bad.

No need to make this about race.

Buuuutttt… since in the last week conservatives have been accused of being racist by Maureen Dowd (referring to Joe Wilson), Bill Maher (referring to Drudge), and Acorn (referring to Fox for showing video of black people talking), I thought I’d take a moment to ask a few hypothetical questions. To be clear–I’m NOT saying that Kanye West is a racist, I just have a few questions.

Consider:

What would the reaction have been if Beyonce had won the award and Toby Keith had rushed the stage, grabbed the mic out of her hands, and yelled to the crowd that Taylor Swift should have won?

If this scene had played out as fiction in a feature film, how would the media elite have reacted to a scene perpetuating the stereotype of a black man aggressively grabbing something from the hands of a southern white girl?

Do you think we’ll be seeing any columns from Maureen Dowd or Entertainment Weekly pointing out racial undertones in the moment, mentioning Kanye’s history of discussing race or pointing out that the times he’s rudely interrupted a televised moment have all involved white people? Such as when he lost the Best New Artist award to, as he called her, “Redneck Woman” Gretchen Wilson, and stormed out of the American Music Awards in protest?

When do you think we’ll hear from Gloria Steinem or Gloria Allred defending Taylor as a victim of male domination (especially since MTV didn’t let her finish her speech because Kanye had caused her to run out of time), mentioning the history of female treatment in hip hop music?

Will the Southern Defense Coalition or the White Anti-Defamation League be making any statements?

Just curious…